


five times violet faced hate and one time she faced love

by ohworm (owolivia)



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Coming Out, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Other, Projection, a lot of it, author projects onto violet but whats new, theres religion mentioned, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:21:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27787429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owolivia/pseuds/ohworm
Summary: major angst, mostly just me projecting, theres a lot of homophobia with a lil happy ending so dont read if sensitive to that
Relationships: Louis & Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	five times violet faced hate and one time she faced love

**Author's Note:**

> homophobia sucks. hating yourself sucks. the battle to loving yourself and embracing who you are despite the word being used against you at every turn is a hard battle. lesbian isnt a bad word.

“You’re pretty,” Violet says, clutching a stuffed bunny to her chest as her mother takes her shopping. The cashier smiles, looks a little softer, joyous, more hopeful, as if just a little girl telling her she looked pretty made her day better.

“Sweetie,” her mother says then, pulling her to the side, “Don’t say that to strangers. They’re going to think you’re … you know." Her face almost turns into a frown as she whispers. "Lesbian."

Violet looks up at her mother, nods, eyes glossed over, threatening to cry.

“How was your first day?” Her mother asks with excitement, her hands gripping the steering wheel of their older, slowly rusting car, eyes crinkling as she tilts the rearview mirror to look at her better. “Is middle school as _fun_ and _exciting_ as the movies?”

“Not really.”

“Are there any pretty boys?” Her eyebrows wiggle. Violet shakes her head. “No pretty boys?”

“I mean, Valerie’s nice.”

“So you’re a lesbian now?” Her father meets her eyes through the mirror, and Violet leans back, running her sleeve over her eyes to dry the wetness. 

“No. They’re just.. stupid. I don’t know.”

“...and Mama’s health is slipping,” Violet’s mother mutters into the phone from the kitchen, hushed. “I don’t know, honey. I think we should let her grieve in peace. She took his death the hardest.”

Violet cuddles up on the little couch, covers her little body with a blanket and shoves her homework further from herself. 5th grade could wait, she assures herself. Her eyes are glued to the TV that’s filled with rainbow flags and people protesting on the street, the caption ‘Gay Marriage to be Legalized Soon’ flying by the bottom.

She feels her mother’s soft hand brush against her cheek as she reaches for the remote in Violet’s lap, grabs it, wordlessly switches the channel. “Don’t take that seriously, sweetie. Those- those gays and… _lesbians_. That’s gonna pass.” And then she presses a little kiss on her cheek, wipes her tears, goes back to stirring the soup. “Yeah, please check on her when you can. Thank you, dear.”

Today was different, as the halls were lit up with decorations, red and green colors plastered across the entire building. Valerie is wearing a christmas shirt with Violet’s favorite character on it, and she can’t resist. “I really like your shirt, Val!”

The girl grins, pushes up her headband, tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks.” From beside her, Maddie pops a piece of chocolate in her mouth, scoffing.

“Vi, you’re such a lesbian.” 

Valerie turns to her, brows furrowed. “No, she’s not! She told me she likes Ben!”

“As if!” Maddie argues, and Violet turns her head before her tears could spill.

“Vi,” her mother’s touch is always soft, but her hands are cold, especially now. “You know they’re- lesbians, they’re just there to harm you? Just to… to ruin you, to hurt you?”

They’re not, _she’s_ not. “Mom-”

“You’re not, you’re not. It’s just... just their... agenda. Just corrupting poor souls like you - _oh,_ Vi, how could I let this happen? We’ll pray- we’ll go tomorrow- it’ll be okay. Nobody has to know about it.” 

She feels like a monster, tears staining her cheeks. “Mom. Just listen to me.”

“No, it’s okay, I know. It’s going to be okay, nobody has to know. It’ll be over before you know it. You’re not _them,_ okay, baby? You’re not-”

“- a lesbian.”

She takes a deep breath, goes again. “I’m a lesbian.”

Louis holds her hand, his touch warm like the sun, pulls her into a hug. “I love you. Nothing’s going to change that, okay?”

She’s crying. But this time, it’s because of the overwhelming relief that’s fallen off her chest like a boulder, and she feels loved as Louis pats her back, makes a joke, just like the old times. “Oh, that’s why you can’t sit straight.” 

She laughs.


End file.
